Exclusive Clubsport S becomes a price bidding war
It’s here. The Volkswagen Golf Clubsport S is arguably the greatest front -wheel drive ever produced. Fresh from its record-setting trip to the Nürburgring, it’s now the official yardstick for all hot hatches, past and present, clocking a shattering 7:49 around the Green Hell.
That’s quicker than an M4 and crucially, quicker than the Civic Type R. With only 400 produced worldwide and the 47 SA units already sold out, exclusivity is guaranteed – sellers have already attached huge premiums up R899 000.
Performance Through Low Weight
Like most “Super Specials” the main difference between the Clubsport S and the sublime Clubsport is weight, or the lack thereof. The rear seats and doors, insulating material, rear parcel and bonnet damping have all been binned. A smaller battery and an aluminium subframe has been fitted in an effort to reduce overall mass. Unsprung mass was reduced by 1kg per wheel by fitting aluminium brake covers.
The Chassis
Developed over hundreds of hours at the Nordschleife, the Clubsport S boasts chassis dynamics that many engineers have been trying to achieve, without much success. Karsten Schebsdat, the VW chassis expert, explains: “To neutralise the understeer and at the same time boost grip levels, we counteracted understeer on the front axle and specially designed the hub carriers”, resulting in higher camber angles. In layman’s terms it corners like hell, and has incredible stability, even when trail braking into corners.
Engine and performance
Now boasting 228kW, up 33kW from the standard Clubsport, the S delivers performance in ways that would have been impossible a decade ago, and thanks to the downforce available on all Clubsport versions, understeer so typical in front wheel drive layouts is all but eliminated. And, unlike the standard Clubsport, it does NOT have the over boost function but instead has the entire arsenal of kW available on demand.
An instant classic, and possibly the greatest of its ilk to ever turn a wheel, owners can have it in any colour, as long as it’s white.
Retail Price
2.0 TSI 228kW Golf GTI Clubsport S Manual R742 000
The Golf GTI Clubsport S comes standard with a 5 year/90 000km Service Plan, 3 year/120 000km warranty and a 12-year anti-corrosion warranty. Service Interval is 15 000km.
